Category Archives: NEW CARS

NEW CARS

Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale Steals the Spotlight at Monterey Car Week

Monterey Car Week has no shortage of automotive royalty. Pebble Beach lawns glitter with concours perfection, while Laguna Seca howls with vintage racers. But this year, one car commanded attention everywhere it appeared: the reborn Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.

Making its North American debut, the 33 Stradale isn’t just another multimillion-dollar Italian exotic vying for attention. It’s a rolling sculpture—an heirloom revived for the 21st century. Inspired by the legendary 1967 Tipo 33 Stradale, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cars ever built, the new car channels that spirit while unapologetically embracing modern performance.

Beauty Reborn

The numbers alone are staggering. A twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 churns out 630 horsepower, good for 0–62 mph in under three seconds and a 207-mph top speed. That’s hypercar territory, but the 33 Stradale is more than an exercise in brute force. Built entirely by hand at Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera in Milan, each car is essentially a one-off, tailored to its owner’s exact vision. The carbon-fiber monocoque, dihedral doors, and active suspension deliver the technical credentials, but the analog-inspired cockpit makes clear this is a driver’s car first.

Only 33 examples will ever exist, and—unsurprisingly—all are spoken for.

A Four-Day Tour de Force

Alfa Romeo didn’t settle for a static unveiling. Instead, the 33 Stradale was the centerpiece of a curated tour across Monterey’s most hallowed stages.

  • Motorlux (August 13): At the Monterey Jet Center, the Stradale took center stage among Alfa’s current lineup and a backdrop of private jets and vintage aircraft. More than just eye candy, the setting highlighted the car’s fusion of luxury, engineering, and aviation-inspired design.
  • Hagerty House (August 14): In a quieter, more intimate setting along Pebble Beach’s coast, Alfa invited select guests for a fireside chat with Alfa marketing chief Cristiano Fiorio and U.S. customer Glynn Bloomquist. The discussion revealed the bespoke process behind the car, where each owner collaborates with Centro Stile designers like an artist with a Renaissance workshop.
  • The Quail (August 15): Among a field of unicorn Ferraris, Bugattis, and Lamborghinis, the Stradale still managed to turn heads. Its sculpted bodywork drew crowds, a rare feat at an event where sensory overload is the norm.
  • Laguna Seca (August 16): No Alfa Romeo celebration would be complete without racing. On the paddock of WeatherTech Raceway, with the sound of vintage Can-Am and Formula One machines echoing across the hills, the Stradale stood as living proof of Alfa’s motorsport DNA.

More Than a Collectible

In an era where digital dashboards and over-the-air updates dominate the industry, the 33 Stradale feels defiantly analog. Its scarcity ensures it will spend much of its life in climate-controlled garages, but that doesn’t make it any less significant. Alfa Romeo has distilled its racing pedigree, design legacy, and Italian soul into just 33 cars, creating not only a collector’s piece but also a statement: true automotive art is alive and well.

At Monterey Car Week 2025, among the priceless classics and the latest hypercars, it was the 33 Stradale that reminded us why we fall in love with cars in the first place.

Source: Stellantis

NEW CARS

Vauxhall Corsa GSE Vision GT: The Baby Griffin Goes Full Godzilla

Right. Vauxhall. The company that gave us sensible hatchbacks, caravanner’s dreams and the occasional warm hatch that tried its best but usually lost to the Fiesta ST in a pub fight. Well, forget all that. Because someone at Luton has clearly spiked the tea with jet fuel and PlayStation cheat codes.

Meet the Corsa GSE Vision Gran Turismo – a car that looks like it was drawn by a 14-year-old with too many cans of Monster and actually built by adults who know what wind tunnels and CAD software are. On paper, it’s an electric hatchback with 789bhp, a kerb weight of just 1170kg and a 0–62mph time of two seconds flat. That’s Bugatti-baiting territory… from a Corsa. Yes, really.

Your Nan’s Supermini This Is Not

This is Vauxhall’s “Type R moment”, according to design boss Mark Adams. And he’s not wrong. Because while the current Mk6 Corsa is perfectly fine for school runs and supermarket car parks, this one’s packing a dual-motor setup, 590lb ft of torque, and an active aero system that looks like it escaped from Le Mans. There’s a spoiler that extends so far it could double as a park bench, and then pivots up to act as an airbrake. Subtle, this is not.

The whole thing is built on Stellantis’s new STLA Small platform – which will also underpin the upcoming Mk7 Corsa. So, unlike most Gran Turismo “fantasy specials” that sit a metre off the ground and stretch longer than a hearse, this one’s actually grounded in reality. It’s still a Corsa. Just one that thinks it’s a rocket ship.

Gaming the System

Of course, here’s the catch: you can’t buy it. You can only drive it in Gran Turismo. Which means your only chance of getting behind the wheel in the real world is if your name’s Lewis Hamilton or you happen to work in Vauxhall’s skunkworks. But don’t roll your eyes just yet. Adams insists the figures are realistic – “in theory” – and that plenty of the design elements are being readied for production.

We’re talking a transparent Vizor grille with DRLs hiding behind it, a glowing griffin badge, slimmer ‘Compass’ LED signatures, and a properly aggressive stance. Even the bucket seats are clever – hung from the roll cage and split in two to shave weight, in a way today’s heavy EVs can only dream of.

And here’s the kicker: the concept ditches screens altogether. No distracting tablets glued to the dash. Just a few buttons for what matters and a squared-off steering wheel. Refreshing, isn’t it?

A Corsa With Poster Car Energy

The intent here is clear. Vauxhall wants GSE (its newly reborn performance badge) to be what Type R is for Honda: a standalone halo brand that turns school folders and bedroom walls into shrines. And with this thing, they might just manage it.

Picture it: a future where a Corsa isn’t just your mate’s first car, but a genuine poster car. One that doesn’t just whisper affordability but shouts performance. That’s the endgame.

Sure, the 789bhp numbers may remain trapped inside the PlayStation for now. But the spirit – the lit badge, the clever aero, the compact dimensions, the clear sense of attainable excitement – will leak through into the next-gen Corsa. And that’s the clever bit.

Because the Corsa GSE Vision GT isn’t just a fantasy. It’s a signal of intent. A sign that the griffin badge, once content to live in the shadows of VW, Ford and Peugeot, now wants its own piece of the performance playground.

And frankly? We’re here for it.

Source: Vauxhall

NEW CARS

Nissan Teana Plus: China Gets the Altima That Won’t Quit

The Nissan Altima’s future in North America is shakier than a CVT at full throttle. Sales are sliding, SUVs are eating its lunch, and the word “discontinuation” keeps hovering around like an unwelcome in-law. But while the Altima clings to life in the States, its Chinese twin—the Teana—isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it’s getting a makeover. Meet the Teana Plus, a facelifted sedan that’s determined to prove the mid-size four-door still has some fight left in it.

Face Off

The big news is up front, where the Teana has borrowed some design DNA from Nissan’s latest electrified sedans. Darker, sharper LED headlights now flank a chunkier grille with new DRLs baked in. Beneath that sits a wider lower intake, a styling cue lifted straight from the sleeker N6 and N7 models. It’s all meant to drag the Teana into the modern age without actually electrifying it. Think of it as a petrol-powered chameleon trying to look like its hybrid cousins.

From the side, you’d be hard-pressed to spot major changes unless you’re a wheel nerd. New alloy designs—stretching up to 19 inches—provide the only real update, although one trim gets a two-tone paint job with a contrasting roof, which is basically shorthand for “please look at me, I’m premium.” Out back, a full-width LED bar now spans the tail with illuminated Nissan lettering glowing proudly at its centre. Exhaust pipes? Gone. Because hiding the fact you burn petrol is the new cool.

Size Matters (Sort Of)

The nip-and-tuck job has added a smidge of length—14 millimetres, or just over half an inch—bringing the total to 4,920 mm. Width, height, and wheelbase remain unchanged, but the Teana Plus still sits on a healthy 2,825 mm wheelbase, enough to keep rear passengers comfortable while they wonder why they didn’t buy an SUV.

Inside Job

No official cabin shots yet, but expect a digital cockpit, larger screens, and tech updates designed to keep pace with the Camry and Accord. Given how hard Chinese buyers value in-car gadgets, Nissan can’t afford to skimp.

Engines: Same Wine, New Bottle

Under the bonnet, things are familiar. The Teana Plus sticks with a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder good for 240 horsepower, feeding the front wheels through Nissan’s trusty Xtronic CVT with eight fake gears. It’s not exciting, but it’s predictable—like ordering fried rice at a hotel buffet.

Curiously, filings also mention a new entry-level engine rated at just 142 hp—actually weaker than the current naturally aspirated 2.0. Why? Nobody knows. Maybe emissions regs. Maybe cost-cutting. Maybe someone at Dongfeng just enjoys trolling spec sheets.

Launch and Legacy

The Teana Plus will hit Chinese roads in late 2025, priced somewhere between ¥179,800 ($25,000) and ¥239,800 ($33,400). The current model will likely soldier on alongside it for a while, because nothing dies in China until the last taxi fleet has finished wringing it dry.

Meanwhile, back in the States, the Altima soldiers on with a facelift from 2022 and endless rumours about the axe. Could it get a Teana-style glow-up? Possibly. But given the SUV-obsessed American market, don’t bet your lease payment on it.

For now, the Teana Plus stands as proof that, in at least one corner of the globe, the humble mid-size sedan still has some life—and some LEDs—left in it.

Source: Nissan